


Sunrise

by ThisAz1an



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Crush, Eventual Hint to a relationship, F/F, Feelings, Lots of Thinking, Romance, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:30:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6193480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAz1an/pseuds/ThisAz1an
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jayd contemplates her current predicament, among other things. Piper decides to drop by and see how the Vault Dweller is handling the new world. The aftermath of Fort Hagen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> *Whew!* This was supposed to be short. I don't know how it almost ended being 3,000 words. Nonetheless, enjoy!

Publick Occurrences’ rooftop had a pretty good view of the coming sunrise and she didn’t waste the opportunity to watch the first light of the day shine through the horizon. Sitting on top of the Publick Occurrences’ roof, Jayd toyed with the golden ring between her fingers; turning and twisting it, watching it shimmer under the coming sunrise glow. With her constant venture out to the Wasteland, she didn’t want to suddenly lose it in the midst of combat. The ring turned necklace became a subtle presence that was hidden underneath her shirt. Jayd considered herself lucky that her military tags had survived the nuclear fallout, thanks to the efforts of a certain Mr. Handy. She had kept the small, ball chain that had once carried her dog tags and kept the other half back at Sanctuary.

It was her sister’s wedding ring. The only item that wasn’t ruined by the radiations; an everlasting reminder as to why she was surviving this radiated world that was once her home. She had to find their son—to find Shaun.

As for Nate’s ring, she had no use for it and was safely under the personal care of Codsworth’s for safe keeping. Her travels throughout the Commonwealth would – no doubt – have a variety of threats and just the thought of losing the second piece of what once belonged to her sister gave Jayd all the more reason to keep Nate’s ring safe. She would have no need for it, especially while she was searching for her nephew.

However, finding a kidnapped baby was a lot harder than it appeared to be. When she was miraculously thawed out, Jayd remembered feeling nothing but a mixture of rage and grief when she finally found a way to open her sister and her husband’s pods. She was tempted to stay there, give herself some time to grieve the loss of her family, berate herself for not being able to protect them. Yet, Jayd knew she couldn’t stay there; crying over their corpses would do nothing.

The moment she stepped out of the Vault and found some stability, she hunted down the very person who had killed her sister along with her husband and then kidnapped their child. Yet, the trail of destruction she had left in Fort Hagen only answered one question: Where Shaun was. Her nephew was in the hands of the Institute, an organization that was the Commonwealth’s boogeyman, its biggest mystery, and its enemy. An organization that created humanoid robots and kidnapped people only to replace them with a double.

A synth.

Jayd was worried what the Institute would do to a child that she once thought was an infant, was already a ten-year-old boy, almost reaching into his pre-teen years like Piper’s little sister, Nat. Seeing into Kellogg’s memory, experiencing every, growing moment of his life shed some light as to why he became the way he was. Yet, reliving his entire life in a nutshell only added more questions on top of the ones she currently had. The Institute needed Shaun for some reason and as to why they went through great lengths to find and raise him under their influence was still a mystery.

Huffing out a frustrated breath, Jayd ruffled her hair before flopping onto her back, staring towards the clear, blue sky. She was tempted to grab a drink at the Dugout Inn, especially since the Vadim didn’t mind her company on any hour of the day. The former soldier wasn’t much of a drinker, but after dealing with Kellogg she could use something with a bit more kick to it. She was somewhat thankful that alcohol managed to survive two centuries of nuclear fallout. It was at least better than emptying a couple of gunpowder rounds toward the star-filled sky or having a bar brawl in the middle of Diamond City. Then again, one of the last few things she wanted to experience was post-fallout jail time while she was still searching for a way to find where the Institute was.

“Blue? You up here?”

Jayd tilted her head back, the world becoming upside down in the process.

A familiar figure stood by the door that led to Piper’s bedroom. It was the only way in and the only way out to the Publick Occurrences’ roof, safely. From her upside down point of view, Piper wasn’t wearing her usual red coat, the green scarf, nor her pen-holding fingerless gloves. She dawned only a simple, white, henley shirt that clung to her modest bosom and curvaceous figure. The only familiar constant in her outfit was the press cap, the dark pants, and her leather boots. Jayd felt her gaze lingering on the reporter’s generous hips, but she mentally kicked herself, and instead, focused on the questioning look being directed at her.

 _Get your head out of the gutter, Connors._ Jayd flashed a smile. “Morning.”

Piper rolled her eyes, before approaching her and standing by her side. “So, enjoying the view?”

Jayd was almost tempted to ask Piper which view she was asking about, however; she kept it to herself. Instead, she answered the reporter’s question with another. “I didn’t wake you up, didn’t I?”

“Well, I was actually planning on making breakfast, when I noticed the couch was empty,” Piper mused. “There are only two places you tend to occupy. I had to guess between the Dugout Inn and my roof. I’m glad you chose the latter instead of the former.”

Jayd blushed at that. She had been guilty of having to spend almost an entire evening at the Dugout Inn one night. Although Vadim was all too happy to keep pouring her drinks and enjoying her happily drunken state, she was the all the more thankful Yefim was the responsible one. He was the sole reason Jayd had not found herself in a ditch after nearly drinking herself to a stupor. Instead, she had found herself in Piper’s couch with only a hangover to suffer for the following morning.

“Yeah,” Jayd chuckled nervously. “After that one night, I think I’ve had my fill of lightly radiated alcohol.”

“At least you learned your lesson,” Piper smirked, seating herself beside her.

They shared a comfortable silent for a few moments, with Jayd staring back at the sky once more and Piper fiddling with the tips of her fingers, her gaze switching between the Diamond City’s open market and something on Jayd’s chest. The former soldier could only guess she had noticed the golden ring laying on the center of her chest.

Jayd was about to suggest they head back inside and get started on their day, but Piper said something before she could.

“Do you…ever miss them? Your family, I mean.”

Apparently, in her intoxicated state and while Piper was dragging sloppy drunken-self back to the Publick Occurrences, Jayd had disclosed her entire family history. Mainly the parts about her older sister, her husband, Nate, their son, Shaun, and how they were happy in their Pre-War life. Jayd had a foggy recollection of what she had told Piper, but she knew she had said enough for the reporter to be familiar with the fate of her older sister and her husband’s fate.

Their lives ended before they were even given a fighting chance, which Kellogg had answered for… 

 

 _She remembered pulling the trigger, three times with quick succession. Yet she didn’t remember the feeling of the recoil pressing against her hip, nor the splatter of blood and flesh as the shotgun rounds hit home. The body lay limp on the floor – splayed out – and was nothing but a corpse full of bullet holes._ _Jayd stood before it - Kellogg’s corpse - a shotgun in her hands, it’s barrel pointed towards what was once the mercenary who killed her family just to take her nephew away, Shaun. She had emptied a handful of shotgun rounds into Kellogg. A puddle of blood had already which began to pool underneath their shoes. The room that was once possibly a control room center of sorts was in tatters. The old monitor machineries having been filled with bullet holes, as well. Corpses of Gen-1s and Gen-2s were nothing but gears and sprockets on the floor. Weapons that were the courtesy of the Institute were dispersed about the stone floor._

 

“Every day,” Jayd managed to utter, swallowing the lump in her throat. “But what’s done is done.”

 _And I’ve begun bloodying my hands,_ she thought, raising one hand toward the sky, her fingers splayed out before her. _How many more would I have to gun down before I can finally have Shaun back?_

A flicker of worry flashed in Piper’s eyes. “Blue…”

Jayd shook her head, sitting up, and propping her hands behind her. She flashed Piper a reassuring smile. “I’ll get Shaun back. I’ll take him back from the Institute.”

There it was, the name of a mysterious organization that created humanoid robots and who seem to have the reputation of kidnapping people suddenly only to replace them by a synth double. No one would know the difference until it was too late. Now, every time she heard its name being uttered, Jayd felt nothing but pure anger. Guess this is how the locals felt once they realized their loved one had been replaced by a synth programmed to be just like the person the Institute had kidnapped.

Though her smile didn’t seem to appease the journalist’s concern, as she reached over, her hand brushing against Jayd’s.

“Blue,” Piper laced her fingers with her’s. “I’ve lost people too, you know.”

Jayd blinked, her gaze shifting between at Piper and their interlaced hands. They had their intimate moments, at times, and mostly because it was by accident. This was the first time Piper was ever forward towards her. Normally, she would become a blushing, stuttering mess at the thought of getting into her “personal space.”

Piper didn’t stop there.

“It may not look like it what with my charming personality of being pushy,” she began. “My dad died when he tried to do the right thing, making sure the village we lived in once stayed safe.  I don’t want to lose you too, Blue. I don’t want you to die just because you were trying to do right by your family.”

Jayd felt her heart skip a beat when those hazel-green eyes looked at her intently, with a mixture of concern and a brief flash of emotion that she couldn’t identify.

“So don’t, you know, go off in a rampage and get yourself killed, alright? That’s how you get recruited into the Raiders.”

It took a moment, but Jayd blinked, beaming a smile at Piper. “Trust me, Piper. If I ever decide to join the Raiders, you have my permission to smack some sense into me.”

Piper mirrored her smile. “Gladly.”

Both women shared a laugh, forgetting the fact that their hands were linked to one another. However, as an investigative reporter, nothing escaped Piper’s notice. She looked down at their interlaced hands for a brief moment. In an instant, a bright red blush flared across her freckled cheeks, her eyes going as wide as saucers.

Jayd would’ve made a sarcastic comment about the expression if it wasn’t for the fact that Piper had quickly removed her hand from her grasp the following moment upon her realization. She became a stuttering mess that she was all too familiar with.

“Oh, g-gosh, Blue! I-I didn’t mean to…not  _that_ it wasn’t nice holding your hand and all. I’ve h-hold lots of hands before! I-I just didn’t mean - “

Jayd sighed softly. There it was. “Piper.”

“It isn’t _that_ bad holding your hand - not that I’m saying it was bad! _Is_ bad! No – your hand was actually really soft and warm for s-someone who was formerly a soldier and tinkers around with tools and— “

“ _Piper_ ,” it took every ounce of her will not to chuckle at Piper’s usual habit of becoming a babbling mess when she believed she had done something that was too “pushy.” Yet, Jayd took the opportunity to do something about it. “Quick, can you hold this for me?”

Jayd couldn’t help but grin as Piper was too in shock to even comprehend what she had just asked. The red coated journalist had just readily opened her other hand for her and simply let Jayd link both of their free hands together. She waited for Piper to recover from her babbling rant and realized what she had just done. She wished she had a camera on hand to capture the moment. It didn’t take long for Piper to get curious as to what she was “holding on” for her as her gaze shifted downward.

Piper gasped, her eyes bulging out of their sockets once more, the blush on her cheeks became a hue brighter. “ _Blue!”_

Jayd blinked, feigning innocence. “Yes?”  

“Your other hand!”

Jayd grinned, giving Piper’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Yeah, I know. You’re holding onto it for me.”

The vault dweller cherished the moments where she always left the reporter tongue tied or at a loss of words. Piper being a reporter, she was always cunning with her choice of words; getting the last word in an argument was basically second nature to her. Her occasional “meetings” with the Mayor of Diamond City was proof of that.

Piper was silent for a moment, her eyes wide in bewilderment as her gaze shifted between her and their hands. In the end, she shook her head in disbelief, a smirk curving her lips.

“Your full of surprises, you know that?”

Jayd flashed her good-natured smile, or so her sister would usually describe it whenever she did something mischievous.

Piper rolled her eyes heavenward, ready to verbalize a sarcastic comeback, but her gaze wavered back down toward to general direction of where the ring was possibly hanging by her chest. Jayd didn’t know if even jewelry managed to survive the bombs too, but she had seen enough pocket watches of both gold and silver material that it enough of them had lived through the radiation.

 _Maybe her Dad wore one, even though Piper has never mention her mom being in the picture._  

Jayd watched as Piper released her one of her hands and grazed her forefinger against the golden surface of the ring. When she looked back up at her, Jayd knew she what she was asking, though was too afraid to put it into words.

In the beginning, trying to get Jayd to dish out details about her Pre-War life could’ve been compared to someone trying to pull their teeth out. She would only give vague answers or didn’t say anything at all. The pain of their loss was still as fresh as day and possibly will remain that way for who knows how long she could live in this post-apocalyptic Commonwealth. As much as she wanted to tell Piper the whole story, the wound was still fresh and it still stung. She just hoped the reporter could understand it was still a little too soon for comfort.

Jayd shook her head. “Another story for another time, Pipes.”

Thankfully, Piper didn’t prod any further about the ring and its origins.

Piper lifted her gaze from the ring and smiled at her. “No problem, Blue. You can tell me whenever you’re ready, okay?”      

Jayd nodded gratefully.

“So,” Piper smiled, changing the subject. “Did I ever tell you this one time…”  

Jayd chuckled softly, knowing the reporter was going to tell one of her stories of miraculously escaping an encounter with death.

However, there was one more thing that her unconsciousness had noticed early on…

Their proximity to one another was still very much close knit and the fact she could actually feel the other woman’s body heat through the right sleeve of her military jacket. Jayd felt her heart suddenly beating a little quicker than usual as her eyes set on something other than those mesmerizing green-hazel eyes. She didn’t know what had compelled her at that moment, but Jayd hadn’t given it much thought as she set her sights on Piper’s lips.

They were lush and full and damn near  _tempting_ to be kissed.

“...must’ve been surrounded by at least a handful of those Children of Atom fanatics–”     

Which was another dilemma Jayd had to address.

She had no recollection of when it began, but the more she was with the journalist, the more Jayd started to realize the feelings she was harboring towards her. It had been a lingering feeling, one that she couldn’t discern in between surviving the Commonwealth and its endless variety of danger, finding Shaun, and hunting down Kellogg. Jayd didn’t had the luxury of time to stop and contemplate her situation the moment she stepped out of Sanctuary Hills.

Until now.  

Jayd had her fair share of relationships during her teenage years, most of them being girls who wanted to “explore the other side.” Some of them were sincere and genuine but didn’t last, while others were just a temporary fling to satiate one’s curiosity for one night. However, entering the military had put an end to her “lady killer” escapades and matured her into a grown woman once her request for a permanent leave was accepted. Jayd had no intention of making herself a career soldier for the rest of her adult life. It was bad enough her sister was married to one, a war hero at that.

Piper was amongst the first few people she met just as she was coming to terms with the fact the Commonwealth had survived a nuclear fallout and that people even found a way to live in a world where everything and anything could kill them, if they were not careful.

Humanity still had hope, even if everything else was either radiated or feral. Deep down, Jayd respected those who tried to build a life from the ashes of her Pre War world. She deeply respected Piper, most of all.

“- and there was another time where…” Piper went silent for a moment. “Hey, Blue?”   

Jayd didn’t give it much thought. “Hm?”

“You have that look on your face when you’re trying to figure something out. Is my lips that much of a mystery to you?” Piper asked.

This time, it was Jayd’s turn to blush while her eyes were going just as wide as Piper’s moments ago. She hadn’t meant to stare, but long enough for her to notice it? The fact that Piper was looking at her with a brow raised, lips curled into a knowing smirk, only proved she had been.

_Crap!_

Fortunately, she was saved by the bell at the sound of a little girl’s voice, one that belonged to the youngest of the Wright sisters.

“Piper!” Nat’s voice called from behind the door leading to Piper’s room. “Breakfast is going to get cold! Tell Jayd she can sulk some other time!”

Jayd felt her face getting hotter. Piper laughed softly, covering her mouth with her free hand.

“I think we should head back inside, before lil sis’ tears us a new one.”

Jayd was just thankful Nat interrupted them when she did. She didn’t think she could have a proper explanation for Piper as to  _why_ she was staring in the first place.

 _I still need some time to process all this_ , she thought, watching Piper stand up and pat off the rear end of her coat. Jayd immediately averted her gaze away as she followed the reporter’s example, the blush streaked across her face still evident.

 _I’m not entirely sure about these…feelings, for now,_ Jayd followed behind Piper, tucking her hands into her pockets, as they slinked back into Publick Occurrences.

The Sun had already risen to its highest peak and the residents and guards of the Diamond City were going about their business, preparing for the day ahead. 

 


End file.
